Beet topping and harvesting machine.



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P. LOTTIER.

BEET TOPPING AND HARVESTING. MACHINE.

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WITNESSES:

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PATENTED APR. 14, 1908 FRANK LOTTER, OF ELKTON, MICHIGAN.

BEET TOPPING AND HARVESTING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed February 16, 1907.

Patented April 14, 1908.

Serial No. 357,586.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK LoTTER,residing at Elkton, in the county ofHuron and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Beet-Topping Machines, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in beettopping machines, and in its generic nature comprises a beet toppingdevice of the general type disclosed in my Patent, #859,958, of July 16,1907, and in its more subordinate nature my invention embodies certainimprovements on thedbeet topper disclosed in my patent aforesai In itsmore specific nature myimproved invention comprises certain novelconstruction, combination and arrangement of parts,

all of which will be firstdescribed in detail, and then specificallypointed out in the appended claims, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, in which Figure 1, is a top plan view of amachine embodying my invention. Fig. 2, is an enlarged detailperspective view of a knife and shoe mechanism; Fig. 3, is a vertical,longi tudinal section of my invention. Fig. 4, is a detail perspectiveview of the knife. Fig. 5, is a side elevation of the knife and shoemech anism. I

Referring now to the accompanyingdrawin s, in which like letters andnumerals of reference indicate like parts in all of the figures, 1designates the main drive shaft which is mounted in suitable bearings inthe supporting frame 30, which frame is constructed of any suitablematerial, such as iron, steel or wood, but preferably of steel. The maindrive shaft 1 carries a pair of drive Wheels 2, similar in form to theordinary mower wheels, and the wheels 2 are provided with an inside hub1and ratchet as shown in my patent aforesa1 One of the drive wheels 2,preferably .the right hand wheel, is stationary on the end of the shaft1, while the other wheel 2 is adjustable along the shaft to correspondto the Width of the rows. The construction of the frame 30 and thearrangement of the drive wheels and drive shaft may be similar to thosedisclosed in my patent aforesaid.

A bevel cog wheel 3 is mounted to loosely turn on the shaft 1 and heldin place by a collar 3 a clutch face 3 being provided to cooperate withthe sliding clutch 4 that is mounted on the shaft 1 to turn therewith,by screw-keys or splines 4. The clutch 4 is shifted by a clutch lever 17under control of the operator, through the medium of the operating lever17 and the connecting rod 17 it being understood that the operatinglever 17 may be disposed adjacent the operators seat 15 which is securedto the main frame of the machine in any desired position.

A counter shaft 5 is mounted to lie in a horizontal plane in bearings 5of the main frame of the machine and the shaft 5 carries a cog pinion 5at one end that meshes with the ,cog wheel 3, and at the other end theshaft 5 has a cog wheel 5 to mesh with the pinion or co 6 carried on theupper end of a vertical shaft 6, which passes through bearings 6" andcarries a wrist pin 6 at its lower end. The wrist pin 6 is preferablyformed with a ball head to receive the socket end 18 of a pitman 18,that operates the topping knife, as will be hereinafter again referredto.

7 designates the cutting mechanism of the machine, which consists of adiamond shaped flat plate 7' of any approved size, to the un-' dersideof which a V-shaped shoe 20 having a flattened heel portion 20*, atitslo'wer end,

is secured. A series of ribs 2O project invertical planes from the heelportion 20 and lie spaced apart from one another. The shape of the shoe20 permits the whole plate 7 a to rise over the beets. The cuttingmechanism of the machine also includes a cutter knife 19 which issecured at one end to the upright support 19*, that in turn is securedto a slide 19 which lies parallel with the knife 19, suitable braces 19being provided to give strength to the construction of the knife. Nearone end, the slide 19 has a pin 19 whose end is formed into a ball tocooperate with the socket 18 of the pitman 18, whereby the movement ofthe pitman will be imparted to the knife.

The knife 19 has its slide 19 mounted in slideways 21 which areconnected together by a bridge member 9", to which the knife adjustingrod 9 is secured. The slideway 21 is also braced near its ends bybridges 21 so as to form a rigid support. The slideway 21 has grooves 21to receive the vertical supports 21 which are mounted at each side ofthe slideway on the top of the plate 7 a and form a guide along whichthe slideway 21 can be vertically adjusted to vertically adjust theknife 19, independently of the plate 7. Brace beams 21 are provided forthe vertical posts on the supports 21.

An upright shoe guide 8 is rigidly secured at the bottom portion to thetop plate 7 a directly over the shoe 20, the guide 8 passing through abearing 12 in a bridge member 12 that is carried by the main frame ofthe machine. The adjusting rod 9 also passes through bearings 12 on thebridge member 12 and is pivotally connected at 10 to the adjusting lever10 Whose end 10 is connected to the upright guide 8. Stay rods 11 aresecured to the plate 7, at suitable intervals and at suitable points tothe main frame of the machine. A tongue 14 is secured to the main frameof the machine and supported by braces 13 and may carry the usualdoubletree.

All of the foregoing construction is similar to that disclosed in mypatent aforesaid, but in my present invention I secure a supplementalshoe 31 to the main or primary shoe 20 by a hinge joint 31 at the pointend of the shoe 20, the supplemental shoe being shaped in side elevationthe same as the main or primary shoe and the supplemental shoe 31 has aflat portion 31 corresponding to the flattened portion 20 of the shoe 20and is connected through the medium of a rod 30 to the adjusting lever10, a series of apertures 10 being provided to permit the rod 30 beingadjusted.

When the machine is to be moved from place to place, or at any time Whennot Working the entire cutting mechanism may be raised from the groundthrough the medium of the chain 25 secured to the plate '7 and passedover idler pulley 25 on the bridge 12 and operated by a hand lever 26secured adj acent the operators seat 15 The manner of operation of thetopping mechanism is similar to that disclosed 1n my patent hereinbeforereferred to, and a repetition of such operation in this specification isthought to be unnecessary, as the same Will be readily a parent from theforegoing specifications ta en in connection With the accompanyingdrawings and With the aforesaid patent.

What I claim is v 1. A beet topping machine comprising a supportingframe, a cutting mechanism mounted thereon, said cutting mechanismcomprising a top plate, a shoe secured to the underside thereof, acutting knife slidably held on said plate, means for reciprocating saidcutting knife, and a supplemental shoe cooperatively secured adjacentthe first mentioned shoe, substantially as shown and described.

2. A beet topping machine comprising a supporting frame, a cuttingmechanism mounted thereon, said cutting mechanism comprising a topplate, ashoe secured to the underside thereof, a cutting knife slidablyheld on said plate, means for reciprocating said cutting knife, and asupplemental shoe cooperatively secured adjacent the first mentionedshoe, and means for adjusting said shoes, substantially as shown anddescribed.

FRANK LOTTER.

Witnesses:

W. L. DOYLE, J. H. SLY.

